


When Dia met Eli

by VNVdarkangel



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Conversations, Gen, HthaN-worldline, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26620969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VNVdarkangel/pseuds/VNVdarkangel
Summary: Dia has idolized Eli Ayase since she learned about µ’s. Now, years after her time in Aqours, Dia comes to Tokyo and a blind meeting is set up.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	When Dia met Eli

**Author's Note:**

> Time-frame: Dia is running a fishing business in her hometown. Riko is an established classical pianist a few years after finishing college. She lives with Yochik-... Yohanne in Tokyo. Riko also has a part-time contract with Nico Yazawa's idol agency.
> 
> It is a some months after Akane Nishikino's birth.
> 
> This fic connects to:  
> \- How to Handle a Nico by Ryqoshay  
> \- Happy Life by Ryqoshay  
> \- Next Steps by me  
> \- Part-time idol composer by me  
> \- the door to dreams by me

Sakurauchi Riko emerged from the busy metro station onto the street walking briskly away from the deluge of people. Tokyo was always busy, even more so when you had tourists flocking to the otaku mecca of Akihabara. At least most of them that came here, had some sense of manners and understood some basic Japanese phrases, their appropriate use was another matter.  
Riko turned the corners off the main street until her destination, a fairly unassuming office building, came into view. Getting closer she heard the unmistakable tones of idol music coming from some of the open windows. Not really surprising as the offices of, what was colloquially called _Egao_ , Egao Jōshō the idol agency run by two former idols, Yazawa-Nishikino Nico and Kira Tsubasa. A little over half a year ago, Riko had been invited to a meeting where Egao wanted to hire her as a part-time composer, given that she already had a job as a classical pianist she initially refused but had eventually changed her mind and accepted. The conditions she had set had been seen as fair and now she came by the offices either to drop of a new composition or to have a meeting about a new piece. As a result, and probably due to her own past as a school idol, she’d gotten to know some of staff pretty well. Not _going-out-for-drinks_ well, but well enough.  
As she entered through the entrance the familiar greeting came her way and a request that she’d be seated.  
Koizumi Hanayo came to meet her.

“Sakur.. ehh Riko-san. How wonderful to see you.”  
“And you Hanayo-san. Those new glasses look good on you.”  
“Th—thank you.”, Hanayo blushed a little, “Nico-chan isn’t here today so Tsubasa-chan will be talking to you.”  
“Oh? Is she unwell?”  
“No no. She’s taking some mother’s leave to be with Akane.”  
“Oh right, of course.”, the memory of the woman singing with her daughter on her arm as Riko played the piano in the mall came back to mind. She had, unknowingly, accompanied Nishikino Maki for _Yume no tobira_. And the daughter had been Akane.  
“Tsubasa-chan should be r…”

The Valkyries interrupted Hanayo.

_But I put it on silent…_

Riko looked at Hanayo who nodded, smiling. Quickly checking her phone, Riko saw that the contact was indeed her girlfriend, but with a completely different number. She answered.

“ _< Moshi Moshi>_”  
“It’s an emergency, the gates of Hades have opened.” Yoshiko’s voice sounded in panic.  
“What? What’s going on?”  
“Dia’s coming.”  
“Dia?”  
“You know it’s Dia’s birthday next week.”  
“Yes.”  
“She’s coming to Tokyo.”  
“So?”  
“Ruby asked if we can let her sleep here. It’s about her licenses and such, I don’t get these earthly matters.”  
“When is she arriving?”  
“Tomorrow.”  
“You know how Dia is, just don’t hold any black rituals and she’s fine.”

_Oh no… I just said that out loud… Hanayo-san heard me…_

“Just relax, I’ll be home in a bit. Put the guest futon in the music room in the meantime. Ok dear?”  
“It shall be done my darling Lily. Love you. Bye.”  
“Love you too.”

Riko slowly turned her head at a smiling Koizumi Hanayo.

“Still the fallen angel?”  
“Ehh…”

_Right… Idol researcher… she’s probably read everything about us._

“… yes, it’s a long story, but Dia-san is coming to Tokyo tomorrow and we’re hosting her.”  
“As in Kurosawa Dia? She has her birthday next week.”  
“The same and how…”

Hanayo pointed at her badge _Ask me about idols_.

“Nevermind. Yes, it’s her birthday next week. We’re planning to go back to Numazu to celebrate.”  
“Wasn’t she a very big fan of Eli-chan? Ehh I mean Ayase-san.”  
“She still is.”  
“I see. Hmm.” Hanayo’s phone chirped, “Ohh Tsubasa is ready for you, shall we go?”

* * *

The meeting was relatively short. Tsubasa listened to the commissioned piece and they discussed other commissions that had come in. Fairly standard. As Riko was leaving Tsubasa said:

“Riko-san, could you see Hanayo-chan before you leave? She wanted to give you something.”  
“Oh?”  
“She didn’t write what. Take care now and thank you.”

Hanayo was waiting when Riko came back to the reception area.

“Here.”, she held a piece of paper towards Riko, “for Kurosawa-san. You can look at it.”

Curious, Riko took the paper and looked at it. It contained a time and an address. She looked quizzingly at Hanayo.

“Please tell Kurosawa-san to be at that address at that time day after tomorrow. We’ll cover the cost if she has to rebook her train. It’s a café in Roppongi, quite close to the station.”

Riko turned the paper over.

“It’s nothing to worry about. It’s a present from one Idol to another.” Hanayo said and smiled.

* * *

“ _A present from one idol to another_? You’re certain that is that she said?” Dia asked the next evening as they sat in a family restaurant turning the paper around for any other clues.

“That’s it.” Riko confirmed.  
“How very curious, Well, it does not make any difference, I was aiming for the late train anyway, so this works out nicely.”  
The conversation continued, touching other topics.

* * *

Dia looked at her phone and at the note, she was at the right place some minutes before the time. Dia open the door and walked in.

“Welcome. May I have your name?” a girl in a late 18th century maid uniform asked.  
“Kurosawa Dia.”  
“Ahh there. You’re a few minutes early and your company has not arrived yet. Please follow me to your seat.”  
“Thank you.”

Dia followed the maid through the interior until they arrived at a booth set in a secluded part of the café. She saw several other maids and guest sitting and enjoying drinks and pieces of cake.

“Please”, the maid gestured.  
“Thank you.”  
“I’ll be back when your company has arrived.”, she poured up some ice water and left.

Dia looked around. Old western style décor, booths and tables, and servers in different outfits, but all were probably maid uniforms from different eras in history. She closed her eyes and waited.

“Excuse me.” a vaguely familiar voice said, “Kurosawa Dia-san?”

“Yes, and you…” Dia turned to meet the voice then stopped, mouth open.

Next to the booth stood a tall woman with long blond hair, put in a ponytail and ice blue eyes. A ring was on her finger and she was looking straight at Dia.

“E—E—“, Dia stuttered.

The stranger smiled.

“Yes, I’m Ayase Eli. Nice to meet you.”, Eli said and sat down opposite Dia.  
“But... but… how?” Dia was stunned.  
“This is going to sound a bit farfetched, but Hanayo asked me to meet with you, apparently as a favor to a friend of yours, Sakurauchi-san. She said that you are a fan of mine from my idol days and that you’ve been an idol yourself.”  
“Yes… I was in Aqours.”  
“I never kept up with the idol world after we graduated as well as the others.” Eli reminisced, “But I think I’ve heard of your group.”

_I have to calm down… but… this is Ayase Eli. She was an idol, student council president and the best of_ _µ_ _’s. And I get to talk to her, one-on-one…_

Dia took a deep breath.

“Eli-san. How… how did you do it?”  
“Do what?”  
“You balanced being an idol, your studies and being a student council president. You saved your beloved school. How did you do it?”

Eli laughed quietly.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I have no idea?”  
“Really?”  
“Really. Everything was chaotic, some of us tried to get things in order, then we had others that didn’t even see us trying to reel things in.  
By the way, did you know that I initially opposed Honoka-chan forming a school idol group?”  
“No, I didn’t… funny.”  
“How come?”  
“I was the same… I tried to dissuade Chicka-san from forming one. It brought up… unpleasant memories.”  
“I sense a story.” Eli smiled, “We both wanted the same thing, but I was too stubborn and too proud to understand what Honoka-chan was trying to do. I believed that I and only I was right. My VP kept dropping them hints on what do to get past the obstacles I set up. I did what I thought everyone expected of me, and what my position as student council president expected of me.”

Dia nodded in agreement.

“You know, Umi-chan saw some of my ballet performances, and somehow I agreed to instruct them… “

“That’s when you became a member? “

“Far from it. I wanted them to give up, to fail. I was… not kind. I expected a level that I knew they couldn’t master at that point. I drove them hard. And they still came back for more the next day. I was so frustrated… so angry. And I… walked away. Nozomi called me out, making me face the truth. I wasn’t trying to save the school for myself, I was doing it because it was expected of me. In reality, I wanted to be an idol like them. But after my acts, how would they accept me? But Honoka-chan held out her hand to me and welcomed me. The rest you probably know from all the articles.”

Dia sat stunned, she had quickly realized that what she was told was not part of the record. Even without knowing her, Eli had trusted her.

“I… thank you… for sharing this and thank you for trusting me. I will never speak it again.”

“Thank you, what about you? I understood you held the same position, but that, in difference to us, your school wasn’t saved despite your success.”

“True. We third-years graduated and our school was closed. We’d faced closure before and Mari-san, Kanan-san and I formed a group. We got as far as Tokyo, then it all went bad. When Chika-san wanted to form a group, based on µ’s image to save the school I was beyond outraged. She knew nothing about idols, she just saw the performances and didn’t understand the hard work behind it, so I tried to get her to drop it, my own pride getting in the way.”  
“But you ended up in Aqours in the end.”  
“Like your VP, I was trying to help them in secret. I wanted them to understand the work behind it. I made them face the failure I’d known. In hindsight… I was probably jealous of her drive.”

The maid came to their table with their cups and a kettle of tea. They thanked her and she left.

“As you probably guessed from my reaction when you came… I’ve been a fan of yours for years. I watched all your performances and interviews with my little sister. Now that you’re here… I’m at a loss. There is so much I want to ask and discuss, but I do understand that like me you have your own life now. And it would be wrong for me to intrude in that.”  
“That is… very thoughtful of you. But I don’t mind. I have a good life, a good family. Nothing really extraordinary and my idol past is a part of myself I hold very dear. It gave me life-long friends and love.”  
“Do you miss it? Being an idol?”  
“Sometimes.” Eli sipped her tea, “It was one crazy year… well a bit longer admittedly. And performing in New York. In some ways it still feels unreal. You?”  
“Likewise. Getting another chance made Mari-san, Kanan-san and myself face some things, that had left bad blood between us years prior, but we got through it. Then we joined Chicka-san and the others. And now we are scattered across the winds. We still keep in touch and get together when we can... but we have our own lives now, responsibilities.”  
“You sound like me” Eli chuckled, “But Honoka keeps pulling us together for reunion after reunion. We all live in Tokyo so seeing each other is easier even if we’re in different parts of the city. But believe me, the bonds you made with each other, they will last.”  
Eli took another sip, “I like thinking about those times, makes me realize how much I’ve become a better person.”  
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a question, something that has been bothering me for some time.”  
“Sounds important, ask away.”  
“Why did you remove everything from µ’s when you disbanded? We came to Otonokizaka once because we were lost, without a wind, seeking something from you that would show us the way.”  
“Ahh that. Honestly, I don’t remember why exactly, but it was a unanimous decision.” Eli leaned back, looking at the ceiling, “I think it was because we wanted to give the ones that came after us a fresh start, not to be burdened by the weight that µ’s carried even if some members stayed behind… and because, and this might have been selfish of us: µ’s was ours, it was us nine. Even with one gone, we wouldn’t be µ’s anymore.”  
“I think I understand. We chose to let Aqours go on. It was a link to our old school. It will always be. And when the school close it was all that was left.”  
“Is the name still around?”  
“Not anymore. After the first years… I still think of them like that sometimes… graduated, the ones in the group that were left changed the name, said they didn’t feel connected to it. Silly, but I respect their decision.”

Their conversation continued back and forth, as Eli’s respect for Dia grew, Dia’s admiration of Eli felt justified. She was simply incredible. Honest, hardworking and direct. After what felt like a short time, Eli’s phone vibrated.

“Oh. It’s that late?”  
“Huh?” asked Dia.  
“We’ve been here for three hours and it feels like I just got here.”, she put the phone down, “my wife was asking me to pick up some things on the way home.”  
“Your… wife?”  
“Yeah.”, she showed the wedding band, “Non-tan wanted to make something special for Saki.”

Dia looked confused at Eli.

  
“You know Tojo Nozomi?”  
“Of course.”  
“My wife… and Saki is our daughter.”  
“Ohh I see.” Dia smiled, “then I shan’t keep you.” She stood up and bowed, “Thank you so much for speaking with me.”  
“Have your friend thank Hanayo. It was a pleasure and…” Eli looked through her purse and found a pen and some post-its, she wrote something on one and gave it to Dia, “My LINE-id. Got to go. Message me soon ok?”

And she hurried off.  
Dia sat, still in disbelief looking at the little yellow paper with Eli’s personal LINE.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea started after reading a work by plazorr ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596843 ), I could n't let the idea of Dia having coffee or tea with someone out of my head.. so here it is, do tell me in the comments what you think.


End file.
